The MASA Movement

The MASA Movement

Now that President Trump has been re-elected, there’s an opportunity, that the Transportation industry must take serious looks at safety problems inside our industries. That means committing to MASA – Making America Safe Again or Making American Transportation Safe Again – MATSA. This is more than a turn of phrase; it’s a call to examine how bureaucracies and hiring practices have seriously damaged the transportation industry’s ability to self-evaluate, to regulate their own responsibilities, and deal with irresponsible government overreach. This has been throughout the Transportation industry; in Pipeline, Highway, Rail, Aviation and Marine. I can speak to Aviation; let those more experienced in the other disciplines address their concerns.

First: Congratulations to President Trump on an extraordinary re-election; he truly is the Praeses Quondam, Praesesque Futurus – The Once and Future President. But more than that, his administration represents that return to common sense; back to established successful practices; and liberation from government lobbyists, corruption that marked other administrations, before and after #45. The US can finally turn itself around. We can Make American Transportation Safe … Again.

One thing I implore the President-elect to do is to assign as Secretary of the Department of Transportation (SDOT) a serious person, one who understands transportation. This position is too important to commerce and safety in all modes. Abraham Lincoln said of office-seekers, “… there are too many pigs for the teats.” Lincoln’s wit highlighted how DC had (has) become a popularity contest of the unqualified.

SDOT can’t be a lobbyist, a bureaucrat, or some self-described ‘expert’. First of all, in aviation there are no experts; it’s a physical impossibility. Besides, aviation has suffered enough because of experts, like Boeing’s Dave Calhoun and many airline executives. DOT needs experienced professionals who understand that safety cultures are established at the top and communicated down to the workforce, who understand self-evaluations are just as vital for regulatory agencies as they are for certificate holders. SDOT has to be that communicator, an advocate for safety. SDOT has to recognize every federal agency needs Quality Assurance.

The failure of Dave Calhoun

And please, no accident experts; that term is a misnomer. The first choice of fools would be to appoint former National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Members or former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrators, also known as: Government Appointees. It’s clear the last few NTSB Chairmen and women have been more interested in photo ops; denying NTSB investigators serious support, while placing themselves prominently into the investigations they know nothing about, putting facts or safety at risk. For example, the Boeing hearing was all about optics; it deprived Boeing of its rightful opportunity to actively participate in the investigation. Nothing was learned. Bad politics.

NTSB Chairwoman and one of many Selfies

The FAA altered its hiring practices to push diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI), all of which have nothing to do with safety and everything to do with corruption. The FAA, the former authority of aviation safety, was led down the primrose path to obscurity by surrendering to wokeism. To be clear, the aviation inspectors did their jobs, while upper management played politics, sacrificing safety and effectiveness to radical naiveté. These DEI upper managers crippled the FAA’s integrity by shutting down the FAA’s hard-earned ISO 9001 quality internal audits. What did this mean? The FAA continues to insist certificate holders maintain quality; to conduct regular internal audits; continuously revise training to become more efficient; and to hire for safety. By shutting down its ISO 9001 internal audits, the FAA doesn’t do what it expects the industry to do.

As a result, what does industry get? Boeing B737-MAX manufacturing problems and – like Spirit Aero –contractor assembly safety issues, all of which translate into safety issues in the airline industry. We’ve seen tires falling off airborne airliners and engines coming apart in flight. “But it’s only a nose tire,” … Considering a nose tire is the easiest thing to change on an airliner, what more difficult problems are about to make the news.

Flight 1722’s Unreported Dive for the Ocean Surface

We saw an airliner execute an uncommanded dive for the ocean surface, then recover at the last minute, only to continue its five-hour over-the-ocean flight … without FAA investigation or NTSB attention. This is insane. Where was the oversight? Where was the structural inspection? Where was quality control? Where was the pilots’ union? Hell, where were the whistleblowers? One look at the FBI’s recent actions against whistleblowers and that last question answers itself.

It is hoped that President-elect Donald Trump will put hard thought into who will replace Peter Buttigieg as the SDOT. From Buttigieg’s first day, no one working for the Department of Transportation (DOT), whether Pipeline, Marine, Aerospace, Highway or Rail, took him seriously. Why? Because of his paternity leave during the supply chain debacle. Dozens of cargo ships sat off the Pacific coast waiting to be offloaded, causing nationwide shortages; he was nowhere to be found after several train derailments resulted in chemical spills that spewed hazardous fumes into the air and endangered entire communities. Buttigieg was SDOT in title only.

To be fair, past SDOTs, from Mineta to Peters, Foxx to Chao, never seemed to take the SDOT position seriously either. They would make speeches, shake hands, and enjoy the lime sorbet. Despite them, transportation always managed to overcome its problems; airlines and railways will self-regulate … except when they don’t. Why? Because government insists on interfering, pushing unlawful requirements on industry and government workers, like vaccine mandates and the latest fad – DEI hiring.

Have we forgotten when vaccine mandates and the forced firings of employees were thrust upon industry and government employees? How healthy pilots suddenly had cardiac illnesses while landing airliners? How many unusual maladies must be hidden before we credit vaccine-induced illnesses? How departing nose tires are due to experienced people pushed out of the workforce and being replaced by DEI hires?

One important agenda item of President Trump is to relocate many Departments out of DC. Whatever the cost, it’s worth it. Truth be told, many agencies, like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Energy (DOE) don’t need to be located in the DC city lines. DOE could be located in the more energy rich areas of the country, for instance near oil fields in Texas; the FBI should be mid-country, quick to respond to crises. It would separate the serious government folks from those wanting to rub elbows with the DC elite.

A Largely Empty Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center

The FAA needs to be relocated to Oklahoma City, to the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, where acres of FAA buildings stand vacant while government tax money pays for empty brick and mortar. FAA upper management candidates might think twice before leaving the comfort of the cronyism of DC bureaucracy, living in mid-America where political influence is an eight-hour plane ride away.

Then perhaps the FAA Academy will be re-infused with resources to drag training, kicking and screaming, from insignificant virtual training to more efficient classrooms … the ones that had been modified at great cost before being abandoned.

A Shameless Plug

If it sounds like I’m vying for an SDOT appointment, I’m not. My interest is purely pro-safety. We all have our callings and mine is the pursuit of safety in aviation in all ways my company does. I’d gladly support or offer my experience to the successful SDOT candidate, but returning to DC would interfere with the safety work I’m doing now. Many of us must do our part; the old acting adage, “There are no small parts …” applies. Some parts may be smaller than others, but they’re no less important. I and many former FAA, NTSB, and industry professionals – all whose names I would put forward for SDOT without hesitation – continue to contribute our talents to improve safety in the industry we love.

I have faith that Mister (soon to be President again) Trump will choose his cabinet with the best of the country in mind. How can anyone think different? Whoever he picks for SDOT, it will be a good choice, with improvements on DOT at the forefront.

Buckle up, America. It’s going to be a great ride.